Tristan da Silva scored 17 points Saturday night to lead a balanced attack and host Colorado’s defense completely stifled Oregon State in the first half of a 62-42 Pac-12 Conference win in Boulder, Colo.
The Buffs (11-6, 3-3 Pac-12) led nearly wire-to-wire and put together their second straight dominant defensive effort. After holding Oregon to 41 points Thursday night in a 27-point rout, they limited the Beavers (7-9, 1-4) to 34 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers.
Nine of the 11 players who played for Colorado scored. Leading scorer KJ Simpson returned to the lineup after a one-game absence (illness) and managed just six points, 12 under his average, but contributed seven rebounds and six assists.
Dexter Akanno scored 10 points for Oregon State, but it wasn’t enough to prevent its third straight loss by an average of 16 points. Leading scorer Jordan Pope (12.8 ppg) hit only 2 of 11 shots and scored just five points.
The Beavers had other problems. They gave up 16 fast-break points while managing just two, and scored only two points off the Buffs’ 13 turnovers.
Colorado set an immediate tone defensively, keeping Oregon State off the board for the first 4:31 and taking a 9-2 lead at the first TV timeout. Simpson made two foul shots at the 11:37 mark to give the Buffs their first double-figure lead at 16-6.
The Beavers didn’t reach double figures until Rodrigue Andela canned a jump hook with 6:58 left, but all it did was pull them within 21-11. At that point, Colorado ripped off a 12-2 spurt, taking a 33-13 advantage when Simpson sank a 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining.
While the Buffs didn’t score again for the half’s remainder, they still got to intermission with a 33-18 cushion. They limited Oregon State to 8-of-29 shooting from the field, including 2 of 9 at the 3-point line, and didn’t let them get to the foul line.
–Field Level Media
